In my day there was no Marriott. Where is it? In my day we had the Sheraton and the Sheraton and the Sheraton - plus a few seedy little establishments. No happy hours then. You had to smuggle the stuff in or make your own with a beer kit.

I've just got back from Seattle Washington and the famous TESOL conference. Some great presentations but too busy interviewing people. Got to see Eric Clapton - brought back memories - and the cherry blossoms. That was something. Great - the scent of those cherry blossoms. I haven't been to Seattle for years. Met many of my old friends - some retired, some relocated and some still active in the Gulf and blow me down, if I didn't see someone I knew from U of Q twenty years ago. What a twist of fate. I should have guessed though, that he'd be out in Seattle. I recognized him at once. We both had the same mission - recruitment. Mine went well. Not too many complaints about my establishment.

I've said a lot about moral management on these blurbs but it doesn't seem to be important to some people. I still say it, moral leaders result in moral employees. Unethical practices on the part of management result in unethical practices on the part of staff. Up front and straight out.
I mean straight out.

Well dmb, it was too bad I couldn't interview Eric Clapton. He's not interested in coming out to the M.E. to work as a teacher. Linguistics and deep grammar are not his strong points. Clapton was at a gig at KeyArena so like a lot of conference people, I decided to see him in action one more time. Powerful music, especially for old rockers like me. Brings back memories of my youth, some of which was spent in Qatar.

As I recall dmb, the booze souk down in RAbuA was for QP staff not for U of Q staff. The QP guys always had plenty to spare and share. In those days (I presume things are different now) you had to get permission from your employer to get a drink permit from your embassy. Some people got round that & managed to convince the US Embassy to issue them with a permit. Others preferred home breweries. Or you could always bring your bottle to the Oasis or one of the Thai restaurants where they'd put your brew in a teapot. Those were good times.

In those days, in the 1980's Doha was a little backwater town with not much action. We had only 2 TV channels that ran for a couple of hours every night. My favorite TV program was our daily dose of the camel races out at Shahaniya. If you were feeling depressed, you could always watch the camels ride round and round the track. I found it a great stress reliever.

I remember good times there with our scatty Bulgarian head. She was pretty competent. Heard she left a few years later. The job at U of Q was OK. The unit at U of Q was a nice little place to work 18 or 19 years ago. Nice people, a nice mix of native-speaker and non-native speakers, a nice mix of teachers from east and west. Most of us got along pretty well. I remember my colleagues as being decent folk, hardworking, serious and co-operative. Apart from a lurker and one or two oddballs, as there always is in the EFL world, the place was OK. Like most of the people who left in the 80's, we were discouraged by the bad pay scale which was not on par with other places in the M.E. Some people were only earning around 4,000 riyals - not much compared to counterparts elsewhere in the region. The lousy pay drove me away but I do remember good times there. Good to hear the pay has gone up.
Even so, Doha was not an ideal place to live since the town was so small but at least the nice work environment made up for that.

I hope that things will continue to improve at U of Q but I still stress the point that you need moral managers. You need management and directors who value and appreciate staff and who do not get rid of them on a mass scale in a mass firing. That was pretty shocking to read about. In my day things like that never happened; people resigned, they weren't fired. Well good luck to all those out at U of Q. Maybe your management has learned something from the valid issues raised. Maybe not. I see thursday12 is in a better mood. That's great. But what about the people who got fired? Are they in a good mood? It really is a bad scene when loyalty is not rewarded. I've stayed where I am for so long precisely for that reason. I'm reaping rewards all the time, both financial and professional. I've been luckier than most, probably.

Just one legitimate question. Read alphabetagamma's last posting and he mentioned a "Non-negotiable policy". What does this mean? Does it mean you can't dialog with the head? Does it mean he won't take personal circumstances into consideration? Does it mean he doesn't give people a chance? I find this worrying.

No-body can tell me if they're happy at U of Q. Why is that? thursday12 have you been silenced? What are the good things about the place?
Should I just not turn up in September? I'm beginning to have second thoughts.

Most places in the Gulf give X number of days ranging from 45-60... and you always have this lag of time before you get to leave. It depends on the employer whether you have to spend the whole day sitting about staring at each other or just make an appearance... pick up the mail... dust the desk... and go home to your flat to wait to travel.

I never understood this whole concept. I only had one employer who let us leave once grades were in... and come back the day before classes began... and that was AUC. (with all the pay waiting in your US account for you before you left) Out end of May, back early September. Some departments at KU allowed this in the past.

But generally in the Gulf... no way... X days... weeks of nothing to do. I never saw the logic, but so it goes. It goes along with their idea that you have to sit in the office every day for 6-8 hours even if you only teach for 1 hour... as if we are secretaries or office workers... punching the time clock.

Of the group of teachers who arrived in fall 2006, very few are happy. Here are some reasons why:
- We were dumped in a compound that didn't have any access roads in or out, in the middle of a construction zone near the stadium that hosted the Asian Games in December 2006 (you can just imagine the mess...)
- Most of us had been told at the interview that we were getting villas in a compound 10-12 minutes from campus (some of us were even shown our villas). Instead, we ended up in apartments in an unfinished compound 35-45 minutes away from the university (and that's when there is no traffic; in the morning it can take as long as 1 1/2 hours to get to work)
- Add to that the insane drivers in Doha which make the commute to work a life-endangering experience
- The management team is new, inexperienced and somewhat resistant to suggestions

So, in essence, we were lied to, then dumped and later scolded for being difficult and negative. We were repeatedly told that things would be so much better next year, when all the construction is finished (by the way, it is still nowhere close to being finished...) Meanwhile, there was no plan to take care of the problems facing new teachers and these problems were systematically ridiculed and diminished by management.

The solution: admin gave everyone a hefty pay raise...

Bottom line: if you're in it for the money and where you live is not a great big issue, this is the place for you.

Hey TC how ya doin? Yeah, ya got it pretty much right on the ball.
Some newbies have quit already - not happy.
Some newbies mighty happy.

Uppers:

1. the moolah - like TC said they upped it when so many of us complained we weren't getting as promised
2. summer school jobs - - great way to supplement yer income - but ya gotta get in with the right crowd.
3. more moolah with overtime/part-time - but some people (same people) seem to get the jobs - so that kinda makes ya wonder, ya know what I mean?
4. vac is not too bad - about 2 months (paid)
5. Al Gharaffa villas - good place to live and near the campus
6. Mr Fix-it still doin maintenance & repair jobs - tho not around at the moment
7. if ya know how to sweet-talk the power behind the throne, man ya got it made.
8. roads round Al Waab gettin better but still doin roadworks
9. good office support staff
10. management tryin to get their act together (but a lot of changes - kind weird when so many management are bein shuffled here & there)
11. lots of shoppin for those who like the shoppin scene
12. good club scene but expensive

Downers

1. people don't seem connected
2. Al Waab - substandard place compared to the Gharaffa villas -kinda depressin atmosphere - looks like US army base camp
3. go-getters gettin the go
4. shifting and shafting - movement with supervisors? can't quite figure this one out
5. factions & camps - those who know how to brown nose & those who have integrity
6. firing squad victims awaitin the axe next November
7. traffic - bad news all over town
8. moolah makers - some people just here for moolah so moanin & groanin a lot - want everything their way
9. !T facilities still pretty bad
10. no public beaches

So to answer yer question yellofello "Are people happy?" - some are - most of the oldies are not as they're facin the axe - kind depressin to say good-bye to some of the ones who've been turfed out.

Some newbies really happy 'cause just thinkin of the moolah.
Some newbies depressed 'cause they wanna live in Al Gharaffa.
Some newbies don't care.

As for me - I have my good days & my bad days - just hangin there and hopin things will improve I gotta look on the bright side - life is what ya make it. But we gotta always keep a look-out - ya never know who's lurkin in the corner.

Toughcookie hit the nail very much on the head! The many problems and inequalities that the new teachers face are real, yet the management sees the complaints made by new teachers as the problem! Mr. Fixit is besides himself because the complaints made by new teachers just won't cease!

You know you are on Mr. Fixit's black list when the other Fixit avoids eye contact with you. Get in on the Fixit circle by whatever means you can. Make the fixit clan happy and you will succeed. Mr. Fixit polishes! What an amazing man can be heard recited throughout the university!

Some newbies have quit already - not happy.
Some newbies mighty happy.
Downers

1. people don't seem connected
2. Al Waab - substandard place compared to the Gharaffa villas -kinda depressin atmosphere - looks like US army base camp
3. go-getters gettin the go
5. factions & camps - those who know how to brown nose & those who have integrity
7. traffic - bad news all over town
9. IT facilities still pretty bad
10. no public beaches